Strollers can incorporate a reclining mechanism for tilting the backrest as disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,805,928 issued to Nakao et al.; 5,087,066 to Mong-Hsing; 5,257,799 to Cone et al. These reclining mechanisms are rather complex to operate and do not provide the flexibility necessary for use in a tandem stroller where two seats are included. It is desirable to provide a simple easy to operate reclining mechanism that has a plurality of reclining positions.
A stroller can also include a canopy folding mechanism for enabling the canopy to be opened and closed as disclosed, for instance, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,390 issued to Ming-Tai. Specifically, the '390 patent discloses engaging teeth and indents arranged on exterior and interior peripheries of the two mating portions of the canopy folding mechanism to restrain the canopy support in a fixed position. Other ratcheting mechanisms similar to the ones disclosed in the '390 patent are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,056,805 issued to Wang; 5,062,179 and 5,184,835 to Huang; and 5,168,601 to Liu.
The canopy in a stroller is generally either in a closed position or in a fully extended open position. However, the canopy mechanism of the type described in the '390 patent typically uses a frictional ratcheting mechanism which has a plurality of positively engaging positions. To move from a completely folded position to a completely extended position, it has to move through many of those positively engaging positions. In this regard, it desirable to move from a folded position to a fully extended position by passing only a single positively engaging position.
Moreover, it is desirable to maintain the canopy in the fully extended position with some tension to remove any slack or sag. This not only makes the stroller more aesthetically appealing, it prevents the canopy from flapping around in windy conditions. However, the prior canopy mechanism lacks the ability to apply a positive tensioning force toward the extended position to stretch the canopy to its fully extended position. That is, the ratcheting mechanism only provides a predetermined positive engaging positions. If the ratcheting position does not perfectly align with the position where the canopy is fully extended, sagging can result.